Yesterday Could Have Waited Until Tomorrow, or Later

Yesterday (2019)

Yesterday is the story of if nobody remembered the Beatles except for one person. That one person is Jack Malik, played by the very talented Himesh Patel. Patel is the best part of the movie, which is unfortunate. He does a great job, but everyone around him underperforms and it made much of the movie boring. Patel does his best to play the tortured artist who becomes an overnight sensation on the backs of four people who the world doesn’t know. He hits all of the right emotions at the right times, but everyone around him is basically window dressing. The only other character with any depth is his love interest, Ellie, played by the usually stellar Lily James. When I saw her cast in this movie, I was excited because she is a terrific singer, but she did not get to show off anything except her forlorn look of unrequited love. It was clear from the start that this was just a love story between Jack and Ellie and the clever premise was abused to fit that story. In their entire relationship, nothing comes as a surprise. It follows the same beats as a dozen other romance movies, but it has some Beatles songs sprinkled in. The unique concept was wasted on this typical love movie. After the initial performance that shocked everyone, there were exactly two clever moments in the remainder of the film, and both were given very little time. In fact, the entire story was given very little time. The story line was compressed so that the movie could fit as many hit songs as possible, and the movie suffered for it. Granted, the songs are great and were all ably performed, but I don’t need to go to the movies to hear the Beatles. After the credits rolled, I felt too things; disappointment and anger. I was disappointed in the execution of a truly creative concept and I was angry at how basic the love story turned out to be. Overall, Yesterday did nothing for me. I honestly enjoyed this tweet more than I enjoyed Yesterday.